West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she would visit Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district on December 30 to attend a public distribution programme.

This would be her first visit to the island, situated on the borders of the Sundarbans, since the area witnessed large-scale protests earlier this year over alleged land-grabbing and sexual harassment of women by local TMC leaders.

"I will visit Sandeshkhali on December 30 to attend a public distribution programme. People had asked me before the elections whether I would visit Sandeshkhali or not. I had told them that I would be going later," the CM told reporters at the state secretariat.

"This will be a government programme. We have completed several pending programmes under 'Lakshmir Bhandar', 'Banglar Bari' and other schemes. Around 20,000 beneficiaries of the area will be benefitted from various state-run schemes. I hope to hand over certificates of various schemes to around 100 people from the stage," she added.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.